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Effective Home Treatment Alternatives To Treat Gout

There are different home remedies that can help treat gout, and many of them are practical treatments that are easy to use and follow.

Personally, the following are some of the ways that I have used and practised:

• Drinking a lot of plain water – Believe it or not, water is actually an excellent gout home treatment Water is safe to drink and free from side-effect. Drinking plenty of water daily will helps in proper digestion and hence will also help you flush excess uric acid out of your system. Furthermore, drinking plenty of water can also help prevent kidney stones. Take at least 8 to 10 glasses a day. Meanwhile,it is important to lower your intake of beverages that cause dehydration such as alcoholic and caffeinated drinks; like soda, coffee and tea.Stick to hydrating drinks like herbal tea, fruit juices and of course WATER.

• Take low purine diet – Another natural gout treatment you can follow is to control your diet by eliminating foods that are high in purines. Purines are known to trigger and worsen attacks of gout.

I was advised that half of the uric acid produced by our body is a result of purine rich foods consumed in the diet.and that by following a low purine diet that focuses on eliminating high purine foods; like organ meats, wild game, meat extract, gravies, sardines, anchiovies, scallops, mackerel, sweetbreads, etc can effectively decrease and prevent sudden painful gout attacks.

However we need to keep in mind that some foods high in purines contain certain essential nutrients, such as protein that our body requires. We need to ensure we replace them so our body is receiving adequate nutrients to stay healthy.

• Take a good rest and relax. Resting a gout-inflamed joint is a mandatory home gout treatment if you want the joint to heal faster. You need to keep the affected joint elevated and stay off it as much as you can so you don’t aggravate the inflammation further. You need also to make sure that you keep the joint warm or cool – whatever makes it feel most comfortable and less tense to reduce joint stress.

• Take Cherries or cherry juice – Cherries reportedly are an effective gout home treatment. Cherries, in all their forms; be it canned, dried, fresh, black, red sour and sweet yellow cherries or cherry juice. Cherries have been found to prevent gout attacks and help alleviate inflammation during an attack.

However, I was advised that if cherries are used as a natural remedy for gout, eat at least 10 cherries and no more than half a pound daily…or if you take it as
Cherry juice – 1 6 oz glass of cherry juice 1-2 times daily.

• Use charcoal poultice to reduces inflammation. You can mix half a cup of activated powdered charcoal with about 5 table spoon of grounded flaxseed. until the mixture becomes mealy and then add warm water to turn it into paste. The paste (charcoal poultice) is then placed on the inflamed joint and covered with a cloth dressing. Dressings should be changed every 4 to 6 hours and can be left on over night.

REMEMBER though; although most gout home treatment remedies are safe and effective, we should never replace our doctor’s advice; consult them first before starting any gout treatment plan of your own.

J M Nor

http://www.Nor-OnlineBiz.com

Suffering From Gout ?

Are you suffering from gout; like I do ?

If you think you may have gout, be sure and be tested. From my experience, what the doctor did was to insert a needle into the affected joint and aspirate the fluid purportedly to examine for the characteristic uric acid crystals to verify whether the serum uric acid level is elevated. It was confirmed so.

As an initial treatment, I was prescribed some medication to alleviate the pain and reduce the swelling.

It was then explained to me that a low purine diet is important in treatment. Purines are supposedly constituents of nucleoproteins from which uric acid is derived. What exactly is "nucleoproteins" is not explained to me. Bottom line, I was to avoid purine-rich food.

More about the recommended eating habits later !


J M Nor
http://www.Nor-OnlineBiz.com

What is Gout ?

Gout is a painful condition that results from crystals of uric acid depositing in tissues of the body. Gout is characterized by an overload of uric acid in the body and recurring attacks of joint inflammation (arthritis). Chronic gout can lead to deposits of hard lumps of uric
acid in and around the joints, decreased kidney function, and kidney stones.

Uric acid is a substance that normally forms when the body breaks down waste products (called purines). Uric acid is usually dissolved in the blood and passes through the kidneys into the urine. For people with gout, the uric acid level in the blood is so high that uric acid crystals form
and deposit in joints and other tissues. This causes the joint lining to become inflamed, resulting in sudden and severe attacks of pain, tenderness, redness and warmth. After several years, the crystals can build up in the joints and surrounding tissues, forming large deposits, called tophi. Tophi look like lumps under the skin and are often found in or near severely affected joints, on or near the elbow, over the fingers and toes, and in the outer edge of the ear.

Gout has the unique distinction of being one of the most frequently recorded medical illnesses throughout history. It is often related to an inherited abnormality in the body's ability to process uric acid. Uric acid is a product of broken-down purines, which are part of many foods we eat. An abnormality in the body's handling of uric acid can cause attacks of painful arthritis (gout attack), kidney stones, and blockage of the kidney filtering tubules with uric acid crystals, leading to kidney failure. On the other hand, some patients may only develop elevated blood uric
acid levels (hyperuricemia) without having arthritis or kidney problems. The term "gout" is commonly used to refer to painful arthritis attacks, which are usually extremely
painful attacks with a rapid onset of joint inflammation. The joint inflammation is precipitated by deposits of uric acid crystals in the joint fluid (synovial fluid) and joint lining (sy! novial lining). Intense joint inflammation occurs as white blood cells engulf the uric acid crystals and
release inflammatory chemicals, causing pain, heat, and redness of the joint tissues.

Gout usually affects only one or two joints at a time - most often the feet and ankles. The ball of the big toe is the most common site. Without treatment the attack subsides in a week or so, and when patients first develop gout, there may be intervals of many months or even years between
attacks. As time goes by, these tend to become more frequent and more severe and eventually many joints may be involved, sometimes all at the same time. With progressive joint damage, a state of chronic or continuous joint disease (chronic gout) may develop, causing disability and crippling. Gout affects mostly men and is very rare in women until after menopause when it is seen quite often. Some surveys have shown it to be present in up to 10% of adult males.

J M Nor
http://www.Nor-OnlineBiz.com